Portland State University Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships

"I love the program I am enrolled in, but this financial aid dept has cost me almost more money than I am receiving from financial aid this semester. They will not help, they will give you the run around, and act like you should be aware of these things without them. To have no money to begin with, and have a dept that is supposed to help with this and have them only put you in more debt is a terrible system."

"Their phone customer service is terrible. You would think there is a long line of people given the hold times when you do get someone the phone they usually aren't able to answer your questions. The work study students there are not answering phones because there are never long lines. I don't know what they are doing, but if you go in person, they are usually able to help answer questions and get issues on your account fixed"

"The PSU FinAID office was so helpful today when I called. I love that there wasn't annoying hold music and instead there was just silence while I waited, and a voice checking-in periodically. The guy who helped me really stayed on the line with me to answer all my questions and went at a slow enough pace for me to think and he actually got to my real concern and got me an answer. I just transferred from a school in NY, and let me tell you, at other schools, they rush you off the phone as soon as they have answered. After calling the NY school I'd always be left anxious and still in need of help. I feel so thankful today that I called PSU and the slower pace and no annoying hold music meant that I got off the phone feeling good and all my questions answered!! Thank you!!"

"Went in because financial aid told me I needed to talk to them about something. They did not answer their phone, so I drove all the way down there with my one-year-old. In reality I didn't need to talk to them at all. These people who claim to be coaches don't do anything, she literally gave me a link. I'm losing housing and my ability to attend summer term and graduate on time because of something the school did that I was unaware since attending. Something I've never encountered in my 3/4 years of attending college. The coach was completely insensitive. She didn't seem to care about anything. "Is that all we can help you with today?" And I replied if that's all you can offer and she said "Okay well I hope you have a good day." Like what?! I just wasted gas to be given a LINK to a website? THANKS PSU THANK YOU! Absolutely do not care about their students and prove it."

"Talk about rude! I was told by my academic advisor to speak with them about how to find funds so I could finish my degree (I'm only 29 credits away). Not only were they rude but, they were accusatory and demeaning. When I called, the lady I spoke made it obvious she did not pay attention to my account and tried to tell me I recieved funding for terms I was never there. When I called her out on it, suddenly, she couldn't log onto to the site to see the correct amount of funds I had recieved/time. What a joke. I love this school but, certainly not the financial aid department."